What’s a good pistol to start learning on?

Everybody learns [or should] with the ubiquitous .22LR. EVERYBODY [even my wife] owns at least 1. There is virtually no recoil, so you do not get into the habit of "flinching" in anticipation of the recoil. Flinching and jerking the rtrigger causes you to shoot high and to the right, and takes hours of conscious practice to overcome.

My first was a High Standard Duramax which was really acurate (7x100 at 35feet) which sadly is a gone company. The most popular is probably the Ruger Mark III or Beretta Neos. S&W makes the M&P in .22LR as well. You need at least a 4" barrel and preferably a 6" .

Aftr that, you can jump to the wrist breakers- .45 ACP, 454 Casul, and 500 S&W. or the 9 or 10mm . But learn on the .22 first.

Ruger Single-Six. Good solid design, built by a well known, quality, American company. The sights are simple and easy to use, the trigger is great, and it is very accurate for what it is. And the .22lr has almost no recoil so it doesn't scare away new shooters.

The reason I choose the Ruger whenever I'm teaching someone new to handguns how to shoot is because there are certain things that a single-action revolver can teach you about shooting that no other handgun can. The most important being, to take your time. The action of this firearm forces the shooter to shoot slower, which with a semi-automatic, like what everyone else is recommending, is much harder to do. Taking your time when learning to shoot is important because it allows you to concentrate on your breathing and your trigger control, which are key to shooting accurately. There's no point in shooting at all if you can't hit your target.

Everyone should learn on a 22 rimfire pistol. But - not every 22 pistol is a good pistol to start on. The target model - Like the one made by Ruger or the Smith and Wesson 22A that in the $300 or so range are best. These pistols will be a welcome sight at any indoor range and the skills you learn on the inexpensive 22 ammo is directly useful on all other pistols.

The 22 pistols that are not useful to you would be models like the Walther P22. I own one - it's a great little pistol as a put down gun on my trap line and for tin can shooting........ but the short barrel, rough outdoor rated trigger, short sight radius, and compact low profile sights make it nearly useless for indoor range shooting. It might be 'ok' for your first trip to the range - but - you would not learn to be a good shooter on it.

.22LR... choice of semiauto vs revolver.

S&W, Ruger and Taurus for revolver

Ruger, Walther, Olympic, Citadel/Chippa, SIG, are a few

Just try a bunch at the range, find what feels best in your hand, fits your budget and you shoot more accurate with. FYI, all guns are more accurate than the shooter, accuracy in this case is more about how well you work with the gun. unless a gun is damaged or you're shooting bad ammo there's no such thing as inaccurate gun.

but there is a .22lr shortage right now, finding .22lr is a challenge, finding it cheap is impossible. often times it cost more than alternatives such as 38 special, 32 S&W Long, 32 auto, 380 acp, 9x18 and 9mm luger. I don't know what you want to do, it tooks like .22LR demand is 8X greater than ammo production volume, and they're already running 24/7 shifts!

You can try Bersa 380, S&W or Taurus revolvers in 32 or 38, Kel Tec pistols in 32, 380 and 9mm, Glocks in 9mm (and 40S&W, 45ACP), if they got a makarov you can try 9x18.

One way to be introduced to a wide variety of hand guns is to seach of gun clubs or weekly/monthly meetings at the range. I found a group in my area that goes 2x a monththru a site called meetup.com

If you're in the Orange County, CA area the group is called OC gun club and site:

http://www.meetup.com/ocgunclub/

I'm always there, you can email me and we can meet there, I'll bring a wider variety of handguns than the usual for you to try out. I have some pretty unique gun choices, they're still mainsteam but 'off the beaten path'.

and they're cheap. i like cheap guns. monetary value isn't everything nor is it a guarantee that the gun is better than others

I realize that the poster above said to start small and cheap, IMHO I disagree, once you know you want have a firearm for whatever purpose (unless its just going to a range and plinking till your hand cramps) start off on the caliber you plan on using. If its home defense I would not personally use a .22LR. I started on a .380 and jumped up a bit to a .45. If it's for home defense I am a firm believer in the bigger is better (so long as you can shoot accurately and control it) however I am sure getting shot with anything would make someone want to leave, but i prefer the push came to shove in my home with an intruder i would make sure he was not able to harm me.

I agree that the venerable .22lr is the caliber to start with, but I'm of the opinion that you should hold several and start with the one that feels good in YOUR hands.

...22 LR...by the time you're finished that class and have put a few bricks through it....you'll know what you want to trade it in on next. Have fun. ( try a Browning or a Ruger semi-auto )

try the helwan brigadier 9mm or the beretta 9mm they are both great guns and they dont have much kick to em...